Boehner adds to pressure on Holder

There’s about to be a lot more pressure on Eric Holder from Capitol Hill about the Fast and Furious investigation.

Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Whip Kevin McCarthy joined with Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa in sending a letter to the attorney general, pressuring him to release more information about the botched federal program to sell weapons to Mexico, several sources said.

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It’s a significant uptick. Issa - and his allies - want to hold Holder in contempt for not cooperating with his committee’s investigation. Leadership has been more cautious. But the trio’s signature on the letter gives new meaning - and heft - to Issa’s push.

The letter, sent to Holder on Friday, significantly pares back the broad range of documents Issa is seeking. But the letter also asks the Department of Justice to unveil who planned the program, which resulted in the deaths of two federal agents on the Mexico border.

“[T]wo key questions remain unanswered: first, who on your leadership team was informed of the reckless tactics used in the Fast & Furious prior to Agent Terry’s murder; and, second, did your leadership team mislead or misinform Congress in response to a Congressional subpoena?” the letter says.

It also seeks all communication after Feb. 4 — that’s when Issa got a letter from DoJ declaring that they were not “walking” guns. That’s now proven to be untrue.

Leadership huddled with Issa on Thursday about this course, aides and lawmakers say.

It stops short of threatening contempt, sources say. That route, at this point, is too aggressive, according to leadership. But the purpose is to confirm that the top elected Republicans are firmly behind the investigation.